


A Part, Apart

by FridayMorning



Series: Give Them a Reason [5]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Being Lost, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra is not good with children, Catra tries her best, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs A Hug, Minor Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Post-Canon, Self Confidence Issues, Sparring, Thunder and Lightning, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridayMorning/pseuds/FridayMorning
Summary: “Youlosther?” Adora’s knuckles whitened around the tablet. Catra worried her girlfriend’s She-Ra strength would kick in at any moment and shatter the frame.“I’m sorry, we don’t know what happened! One second she was there with us, then we turned around and she vanished!”“Okay, okay, stay calm.” Adora cast her eyes upward as if Frosta would magically be found floating over her head.Considering all the other freaky things the princesses do, it wouldn't surprise me, Catra  thought.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Frosta (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Give Them a Reason [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784470
Comments: 18
Kudos: 266





	A Part, Apart

“Ha!”

Adora swung her elbow across her body toward Catra’s jaw. Catra blocked with her forearm, then grabbed Adora’s elbow and spun her. Adora leaned her weight into the turn and used the momentum to kick. Catra jumped back.

She tipped her head to one side and grinned. “Still too slow.”

Adora huffed and launched herself at Catra, who dropped low and swept Adora’s legs out from under her. The hillside was lush with grass that padded Adora’s fall, but did not prevent the impact from winding her. She groaned and gazed up at the gray clouds overhead as her chest rose and fell like a panting dog’s. Adora had been tied up with so many meetings over the past few days that Catra had hardly gotten a chance to see her. They had chosen to spend their well-deserved free time sparring together. It had only been an hour of practice, but both of them were covered in sweat and short of breath.

_How did I let castle life turn me this soft?_ Catra wondered. Her muscles burned, but she wore a smug expression as she set her hands on her hips and leaned over her girlfriend. “Giving up, princess?”

“Not a chance.” In a flash Adora sat up, grabbed Catra’s collar, and simultaneously pulled and rolled. Catra lost her balance and went with the movement. When the world stopped spinning, she was lying on her back with Adora sitting on her chest. “Ta-da!” Her girlfriend’s gray-blue eyes were bright with fierce triumph and a few blonde strands of hair that had loosened from the ponytail now stuck to Adora’s damp forehead.

Catra turned her face so her cheek was pressed to the cool earth. “Whatever. I totally let you win.”

Adora laughed and stole a kiss before getting off her. “If you say so.”

Adora had left her tablet on top of a flat tree stump near the clearing where they sparred so it would be safe from their session. Adora went to check on it and noticed an incoming call. She answered and Bow’s voice came through loud and clear.

“Adora, I don’t want to alarm you, but we have a bit of a situation!” His voice pitched upward at the end of his declaration.

Catra groaned and got off the ground. Her limbs felt like jelly as she made her way to Adora’s side. On the screen Bow wore a panicked expression while Glimmer teleported around in the background like a frantic hummingbird zipping from one flower to the next.

“What’s going on?” Adora furrowed her eyebrows. “Where’s Frosta? You said-”

“I know, I know! We said we were all going on a walk to enjoy the day before the storm hit. That’s the problem. You see, we were walking, and-”

“Frosta!” Glimmer appeared behind Bow and stared at something off-screen. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled at a volume that made Bow flinch. “Come out! We need to go now!”

“You _lost_ her?” Adora’s knuckles whitened around the tablet. Catra worried her girlfriend’s She-Ra strength would kick in at any moment and shatter the frame.

“I’m sorry, we don’t know what happened! One second she was there with us, then we turned around and she vanished!”

“Okay, okay, stay calm.” Adora cast her eyes upward as if Frosta would magically be found floating over her head.

_Considering all the other freaky things the princesses do, it wouldn't surprise me_ , Catra thought.

Instead of Frosta, the sky was dominated by a sea of dark and heavy clouds that only grew darker and heavier the further one looked toward the horizon. “It looks like we have less than an hour before it starts raining and the thunderstorms fully roll in. Can you send me your coordinates?” Adora asked.

“On it.” A miniature map of the Whispering Woods appeared on the screen and Bow’s location was marked by a blinking red dot.

“Great. Catra and I will be there as soon as possible. Keep looking.” Adora ended the call. She squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth. “Shit.”

Catra hesitated. Now was not a good time to argue, but… “Me?”

“There’s no time to lose, and the more people helping means the more ground we can cover.” Adora unclenched her jaw as she met her girlfriend’s eyes and held out a hand. “Please, Catra.”

Catra took her hand. “Alright, but if she tries to attack me on sight again, I’m counting on you to defend me.”

. . . .

By the time they met up with Bow and Glimmer, more clouds had moved in overhead. Glimmer had stopped teleporting like a madwoman and instead stood so still that the only sign she was not a statue was the occasional bout of sporadic knuckle-cracking. It freaked Catra out. She stayed a little behind Adora, telling herself she was keeping her distance rather than using her girlfriend as a shield.

Bow waved frantically. “You’re here! Oh thank goodness. Okay, _okay_ , it’s going to be okay.”

Adora took authority over the situation with a single step forward. “When was the last time you saw Frosta?” Her friends fell into line and looked more like people now that someone else was sharing their problem.

“Here. We circled back to this spot as soon as we realized she was gone,” Bow replied.

“How long were you walking before you noticed she was gone?”

“Uh-” Bow glanced over at Glimmer for confirmation. “Five minutes?”

“It couldn’t have been more than ten,” Glimmer offered.

Adora gaped. “It took you ten minutes to realize the _child_ you were with vanished?”

Bow raised his hands placatingly. “Hey! It’s bad, I know it’s really bad, and we’re really sorry. However, pointing fingers won’t help anyone right now. The Best Friend Squad can only do its best job when it’s in harmony.”

Catra lashed her tail. If this had been the Horde that logic would not have halted any reprimands, but now Adora sighed and dropped her shoulders. “You’re right. We need a plan. Glimmer, do you have a tablet with you?”

“No. Frosta has one, but she turned off the signal so we can’t track her.”

Adora nodded. “Let’s stay in pairs. Bow and I can use ours so the teams can communicate as needed.”

“I can teleport Bow and I to the library, and then we can search outwards back towards here so we can intercept her if she’s headed in that direction,” Glimmer offered.

_She probably didn’t go very far before hiding somewhere to pout and wait out the storm_ , Catra thought.

“Yeah! Who knows, maybe one of my dads spotted her and took her in.” Bow’s enthusiasm cemented the plan and stopped Catra from offering her idea.

“That’s the best case we can hope for,” Adora said. “Catra and I will travel toward the beacon.”

“Got it.” Glimmer took Bow’s arm and they vanished in a puff of pink glitter.

Adora offered Catra a smile that did little to mask her worry. “Alright, let’s go,” she said before starting to walk.

Catra tried not to care about her lack of participation in the plan. Adora had enough to be upset about without Catra adding her petty problems into the mix. She followed in silence.

Throughout the search, Adora was like a machine. She looked up every tree, down every hole, and in every den. Catra tried to match her focus, but the deeper they went into the forest, the darker and colder it got. Every time she lifted her gaze from the ground, she almost tripped over something.

“What clues are we looking for? Tiny footprints? Ice sculptures?” Catra asked.

“Anything,” Adora said, and her unamused tone stopped Catra from asking any further questions.

A few minutes later the downpour began. Heavy rain battered the leaves, which in turn battered Catra. “Oh, gross!” She peeled a wet leaf off the back of her neck.

Adora ignored her. Catra huffed and tilted her head back, letting the rain hit her face as if accepting her fate to wander this dreary hellscape for the rest of her days.Something shined between the branches over her head. Catra grabbed Adora’s shoulder and pointed. “What is that?”

Adora shielded her eyes and looked up. “It’s ice.” She studied it for a few more tense seconds. “I think she tried to make a roof by connecting the spaces between the branches with ice, but the rain was too relentless.”

It did not seem like a bright idea to Catra, but then again Frosta was a child and children did not specialize in making master plans on the spot when they were wet and tired and lost. Catra tried to think like a child. “Now… she must be looking for a more stable place to wait out the storm.” A sky-splitting crack of lightning chased her last syllable.

Adora bit the inside of her cheek. “I hope she found one.” They continued the search with a greater urgency. “Frosta!” Adora called for what felt like the hundredth time.

“ _Hello?_ ” a voice from the woods called back.

Adora raced off in the direction it came from, forcing Catra to run after her. Wet earth squelched under her feet.

Adora stopped short. “Glimmer?”

Catra’s catlike agility was all that kept her from crashing into her girlfriend’s back.

“And Bow,” he said. “We checked the library and everywhere near it-”

“There was no sign of her,” Glimmer finished, “so we came to meet up with you guys again.”

The energy that had previously possessed Adora to sprint drained away, causing her to sag. “Alright,” she said, “we’ll keep looking together, then. We can’t go back to the castle without her.”

“We will find her. There’s nothing we can’t do when we work as a team,” Bow said.

Glimmer squeezed his hand. Catra began to suspect why Frosta had gotten lost. The group began to walk, but Catra was suddenly rooted to the spot by a sound. The rain was loud, but if she focused…

_An animal? No, animals don’t sound that pathetic._ She turned around and carefully made her way through the makeshift path she and Adora had previously sprinted down. She stopped near a tree with a trunk that was as wide as about six of her put together. The sound stopped. “Hello?” She circled the tree and saw it was hollow inside with an opening on one side. Catra hesitated, then crouched.

“Go away!” The cry made Catra leap back a foot on the balls of her feet.

“Fr- Princess Frosta?” Seconds passed with no reply. Catra crept forward again with greater care. “Are you going to come out?”

There was another sniffle. “No.”

A cold drop of rain slipped past the collar of her shirt and trickled down her back. Catra shivered. “Then I’m coming in. It’s raining hard out here, in case you haven’t noticed.” She half-expected her comment to cause the princess to create an ice blockade to seal her out. None appeared, so Catra crawled through the opening. Outside there was a crack of thunder. Catra flinched and hit her head against the roof of the alcove within the tree.

Frosta snorted. Catra tensed and glared daggers at her, but shut her eyes a second later and willed herself to have patience.

“Are Glimmer and Bow nearby?” Frosta asked. Her voice was a strained mixture of emotions, mainly hope and resentment.

“What? Oh, uh, no.” Catra tried to shake herself dry, but the dampness lingered. “They’re searching for you in another direction with Adora.”

Frosta pulled her knees closer to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Good.”

Catra sat cross-legged and tried to think of something Adora would say. “They’re really worried about you. We are, I mean. Everybody is.” _Nice one, Catra, real smooth. ___

__Frosta did not look up._ _

__Catra cleared her throat. “You didn’t get lost, did you?”_ _

__Frosta shook her head. Another boom of thunder rolled overhead._ _

__“You left Glimmer and Bow on purpose.”_ _

She still did not look up, but she swallowed thickly and a look of guilt crumpled her face to the point where Catra feared she was about to burst into tears. _Oh no, I cannot deal with that on top of everything else right now._

____

____

____“No one is angry at you,” Catra said. At the same time she imagined how Shadow Weaver would have rebuked her for pulling such an immature stunt at Frosta’s age. “Can you tell me why you ran away?”_ _ _ _

____“I didn’t run away!” Frosta snapped at her, and the tears in her eyes were replaced with fierceness that reminded Catra of how she was speaking to a child who had fought wars on the front lines. “I- I was trying to go back to the castle on my own.”_ _ _ _

____“O-kay.” _Progress. _“Why did you want to go back without them?”___ _ _ _

______Frosta hid her face in her knees again. “I don’t know. They were talking and laughing and… I don’t know.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You didn’t feel like a part of their group?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I guess.” Her voice was muffled._ _ _ _ _ _

______Part of Catra knew this was the appropriate time to reach out, but she could still remember how Frosta’s icy fist felt against her jaw. She sat still with her hands in her lap. “I know how you feel.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Frosta lifted her face to give a skeptical look._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I do. How do you think it feels to be the last person to join the team?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“But you’re dating Adora.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Catra looked down at her hands and cleaned her nails as the rain continued to pour. “Yeah, and almost every time we try to hang out Bow and Glimmer come along and the three of them start talking about their precious ‘Best Friends Squad’.” She sounded a bit more bitter than she intended and felt heat rise to her face. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I can understand how frustrating it can be.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______She sighed. “It’s not just Glimmer and Bow. Sometimes it feels like none of the princesses listen to me the way they listen to each other.” She swallowed. “I keep trying to prove to them that I’m not a child, but nothing seems to work.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Catra frowned. “I know I haven’t been here long, but from what I’ve seen you’re one of the most valuable members of the team.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Frosta looked skeptical. More thunder crashed and the wind howled through the trees. Even though Catra complained about feeling invisible, she knew the others must have noticed her absence. She needed to wrap things up._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m serious. I’ve seen you in battle.” Catra rolled her shoulders. The small shelter began to feel cramped. “You fight without hesitation, but you don’t let your energy overpower your common sense. And through it all, you defend your friends whenever needed. That doesn’t just make you a good soldier or princess, it makes you a good friend. I know the others appreciate having you on their side a lot, even if they forget to show it sometimes.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______There was a moment of silence. Then Frosta burst into tears. Catra paled and scrambled to think of what to say, but Frosta hugged her tightly and her mind went blank. She patted the child’s head with the same enthusiasm as a soldier trying to defuse a bomb._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m sorry!” Frosta wailed. “I shouldn’t have run away from my friends. I- I-”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay, it’s okay.” Catra desperately wished Adora was there. She tried to relax._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Everyone will be happy to see you when we find them again, but we have to go. The storm is getting worse and we’ll be safer at the castle.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Frosta pulled back and wiped her face with her puffy blue sleeve. “You- you’re right.” She crawled through the tree’s opening into the storm and Catra followed. The princess pulled out her tablet and handed it to Catra. “Can you get us back to them?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Catra turned it on and saw a map with two red dots that marked the locations of Adora’s and Bow’s tablets. “I think so.” She studied the screen and tried to estimate how long it would take to get to them._ _ _ _ _ _

______Lightning cracked the sky open and the tree they had just left turned into a blaze of white-hot fire. It began to tip. Before Catra could react a wall of ice burst from the ground. When the tree hit it cracked but did not shatter. Catra gaped._ _ _ _ _ _

______Frosta kept her hands raised to maintain the solidity of the shield. “You’re right. We really need to go.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They backed away from the scene. Frosta lowered her hands only once they were out of range and the rain had doused the flames. The dead tree hit the ground hard enough for Catra to feel the vibrations under her feet. She checked the map again and the red dots had changed direction._ _ _ _ _ _

______“They see our signal. If we keep walking, we’ll meet in the middle in no time,” she said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Great!” Frosta took Catra’s free hand and they walked side by side. “You know, they like you, too. Or value you- whatever you said before.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What?” Catra looked from the tablet to Frosta._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah. When Glimmer and Bow deep in talking to each other, you came up. They said they think you’re good for Adora.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Catra blinked. “O-oh.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Frosta!” Glimmer appeared in a classic shower of pink and spun Frosta around in her arms as if she weighed nothing. “I’m so glad you’re safe-”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Bow rushed over “Are you okay? When we thought we lost you we freaked out,” he said, and Catra almost reeled backward when she realized he was addressing her._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” Catra said. Suddenly there were familiar arms around her._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Don’t you ever do that again!” Adora sniffled and pressed her face to the crook of her girlfriend’s neck, simply breathing in her scent. Catra could not imagine wet fur smelled all that pleasant, but Adora was still reluctant to let go. “You scared me half to death.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Catra blushed brightly. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Frosta and I are back safe and sound, so let’s go.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Adora interlaced their fingers, and Frosta followed suit by taking her other free hand. The group walked close together in an attempt to shield each other from the downpour. Catra realized everyone seemed to fit together perfectly. Despite the chilling rain she felt warm inside. Maybe she was a part of the group, after all._ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks again for all the support you've been giving me. A few people have asked about Glimmer and Entrapta, and don't worry! I definitely want to write parts with them. Do I know what will happen in those parts, yet? Not really, but I'm figuring it out as I go. Hope you enjoyed!


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